What Do You Say To
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day 1177: They're only just testing the waters, and both of them are unsure just how far they're supposed to take things. - Runaway Bride series


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 56th cycle. Now cycle 57!_

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**"What Do You Say To"  
Rachel/Quinn  
Runaway Bride series  
_(no listing yet; sequel to Now Everything Is Different)_  
**

The week had been long, for both of them. For Rachel, it meant dealing with a hostile group of what she would normally call her friends, on top of a jilted ex. On the other end, Quinn was finding it harder and harder not to say anything that might put an end to the blame being laid on Rachel. Yes, it has been her decision to walk out of the courthouse, but she never would have done it if not for Quinn's… incentive. Even then, the fact that she had actually walked out of there meant that she didn't want to go through the wedding. In essence, if Quinn hadn't stopped it from happening, Rachel might have ended up in a marriage she didn't want… How was that better? Maybe she'd done them all a favor.

The one shining light at the end of the tunnel was this day, Saturday, when Quinn had an invitation to come and hang out with Rachel at her house. And now the day had come.

When Quinn had arrived and been greeted by one of Rachel's fathers, who insisted she call him Hiram, she had been thrown for a few seconds. For some reason she hadn't expected them there, or…

"Quinn, you're here!" She looked up, and there was Rachel, coming from upstairs. The first thing Quinn could think of was that the dress was new. "My dads are just getting ready, actually they're heading out," she nodded, looking back to Hiram.

"Yes, we were, that's… Leroy, the store closes at five, you know?" he called out before looking back to his daughter and her friend, then back to his daughter, back to her friend. Rachel and Quinn caught the looks, just as Hiram turned away with a smile. They shrugged at one another, then Rachel cleared her throat.

"Come on, let's just go in here," she led her to the living room, so they could sit down.

An awkward silence hung about, with Rachel's fathers running left and right, getting ready. The girls looked to one another, searching for something to say in the meantime.

"New dress?" Quinn finally thought to ask, and Rachel latched on it.

"Y-yes, well I had it, I just never had the chance to wear it yet, so I thought…"

"I like it," Quinn told her, and Rachel smiled.

"Hiram, I've got them, I'm ready," Leroy was now the one standing in the hall, and he looked to Rachel and her guest. "Hello, Quinn," he greeted her.

"Sir," she nodded, and there was something about how he paused, like he was looking for something. Finally though Hiram had joined him and they were ready to go.

"We will be back around seven, later if we stop by the… Well, we'll call and let you know," he told Rachel, who quietly nodded. The two fathers waved to their daughter's guest and then they were gone. Rachel looked to Quinn.

"I am so sorry," she told her, and Quinn laughed. They'd both been looking forward to some awkwardness, but after that, the tension had released some. "So what should we do? I was debating between watching a movie, or…"

"Movie sounds good," Quinn nodded, so Rachel stood and went to the DVDs.

"Feeling like anything in particular? Drama, comedy, action, roman..." she trailed off.

"Roman?" Quinn frowned, confused. Rachel knew if she turned around her face would say it all, and she tried not to, but when Quinn spoke, she turned. "Romance?" Quinn had then guessed, and Rachel didn't know whether or not to speak. "Maybe steer clear of that for now," Quinn suggested.

"Yes, probably," Rachel was quick to agree, and once she had turned back to the DVDs, Quinn smiled and stood, coming to look through the boxes along with her. She reached past Rachel, finding one she recognized from the side. Their eyes crossed, and Quinn showed her the box.

"How about this one?" Rachel took it.

"Sounds good," she bowed her head before moving to put the disc in the player. "Are you the snack type? I think we've got some popcorn somewhere, or…"

"Not really," Quinn told her, so that was the end of that. She came and sat back down with her, and they started the movie. They would realize at the end of the day that they hadn't actually paid that much attention to it. Rachel was too preoccupied thinking about the situation as a whole, wondering if she was doing things as she should, if maybe she would scrap this and end up losing everything and everyone… There she was, with Quinn sitting at her side, and she didn't know if she was holding back from doing anything, or if she was nervous at all being there… Quinn knew where she was at, she'd told her a week ago at the diner, but then were there things she was keeping herself from saying or doing, out of respect?

Quinn wasn't sure how to act around her. She thought she would, but now here they were, and she knew all they were doing was hanging out, like friends, but they both knew there was more at stake than a friendship. She was more than happy to work at Rachel's pace, but it did leave her playing a bit of a game of 'should I or should I not?' They had said they would play it as it came, but… For the very first time in her life, a thought had come to her, from the moment Rachel had come down the stairs in that dress: she wanted to kiss her. The thought had taken her completely by surprise. It had been one thing to recognize the attraction, it was another to get the urge to act on it.

When the movie had ended, they had both looked to each other, lost for words, and they'd gotten up at the same time with the declaration that they should pick a second one, so they had ended up back at the shelves. "What should it be this time?" Rachel had asked, looking at the boxes.

"Well I picked the last one, so why don't you pick?" Quinn offered, and Rachel had moved to the left, just as Quinn was going to move to the right. They stopped, just shy of bumping into one another, and they froze. Quinn could see into her eyes, brown with a twinkle in them like they carried their own golden stars, her signature right there… Rachel could pick up on the scent of her, the one she would catch so many times in the halls at school, in class, in Glee Club… From up close it almost smelled different, better… Her chest heaved with a deep breath, and Quinn had interpreted this as a cue to move just an inch or two forward…

But then Rachel had blinked, moved back, and the moment had passed, leaving them in the all too familiar awkward silence. She had apologies in her eyes now, but Quinn had no need for them. She smiled, reaching once again in the stacks. "You picked again," Rachel could only comment.

"It's okay. You'll get the next one."

THE END

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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